Love Is Greed
by t20
Summary: Before Isaac Lahey got the bite, he was a self-reserved, quiet boy with an undying crush on Cara Sparacino. After he got the bite, he was confident and sly, and devoted to getting Cara to feel the same. Which would have worked fine, had her cousin not been Scott McCall.
1. Chapter 1

Two weeks before Isaac Lahey's life changed forever, he woke up late with no time to shower and accidentally put on a dirty shirt. Racing down the stairs and tripping down the last two steps and falling on his face, he pushed himself up and ran to the kitchen. He grabbed a plastic cup and his favorite brand of cereal, hastily pouring it into the cup, not caring that some cereal flakes spilt onto the floor because his main concern was how pissed his dad would be if he found out Isaac was late to school for the second time this month. He didn't even want to think about what would happen.

Pouring milk into the cup, grabbing a spoon and his backpack, he speed-walked to the door and slipped on his tennis shoes and bolted out the door to his bike. He hitched himself up, trying to find his balance before he took his hands off the handlebars to take quick bites of his cereal. Having had to ride his bike to and from school and everywhere in between since the fourth grade, Isaac had picked up some pretty good bike riding skills and had taught himself to eat and ride throughout the years.

Isaac liked riding his bike, though. Sure, it was a piece of crap compared to Jackson Whittemore's Porsche, but he still liked it. It helped him clear his mind and plus he just liked being outside of his house.

He was three minutes away from school and almost done with his cereal and was feeling pretty content with himself that he would make it to school with two minutes to spare. When he pulled onto school property, he hopped off his bike and and started running to the bike rack. After locking up his bike and chucking his cereal cup into the trash can, he ran into the school, not slowing down until he reached his locker.

His hands scurried across the lock as he entered his combination; 32-8-20, and then exchanged his backpack with his Trigonometry book. He took off in a jog down the hallway, and rounded the corner. His body pushed through the first door on his left just as the third and final bell rang. Isaac had never been so thankful to have his first class so close to his locker.

His teacher gave him an annoyed look, but Isaac didn't pay any mind. He was pretty sure that was the only face Mr. Myers ever displayed. Isaac headed to the back of the classroom with his head down, only picking it up the tiniest bit when he passed Cara Sparacino's desk. He'd had nearly every class with her since freshman year and he liked to consider themselves somewhat acquaintances. Cara was a tan girl, with huge brown eyes that turned more of a hazel color, Isaac noticed, in the sunlight and he'd basically been in love with her for about a year.

His eyes met with hers and his breathing hitched and he just barely tripped over his own feet, earning snickers around the classroom.

He felt like he was standing there for hours, basking in the humility that was tripping in front of your crush and everything was going in slow motion when she smiled even though Isaac knew she probably thought he was some idiot. And then finally, a voice in Isaac's head yelled, "Do something! You look like an idiot, man!" So Isaac smiled back and walked to his desk.

The rest of his day went as per usual. He went to French and Chemistry, and lunch and the rest of his afternoon classes. And then after walking to his locker and grabbing his backpack that held his lacrosse gear, he had a quick chat with his friends.

His friends weren't exactly "friend-friends", they were more of they hey-man-what's-up-catch-'ya-later kind of friends. The ones you meet up with every once in a while in the hallway throughout the day and and sit with at lunch but only rarely do you hang out outside of school. One of them was Buzz, who's real name was actually Richard but due to the fact that he's had a buzz cut since the first grade, everyone just sort of took to calling him Buzz because let's face it, the name Richard sucked.

The other was Joey. He was a short guy, standing roughly at five foot nothing. But what he lacked in height, he made up for in energy. Joey was always positive and fun and that was mainly why Isaac liked him. Because hey, high schools sucks but at least he can surround himself by somewhat-funny people to make the suckyness not so sucky. Joey also liked the same video games as him, so that was a plus.

Isaac pulled a single backpack strap over his shoulder and turned on his heel to the locker room, calling a quick goodbye to Buzz and Joey after spending a good four minutes listening to Buzz whine about how he's not going to get a date to the formal coming up and Joey trying to calm him down by saying, "Dude, let's just hope a blind girl moves here, and then you might have a chance!"

He drug his feet across the floor, not particularly in the mood for physical activity today, and was trying to spend as much time possible into to walk to the locker room. He's tired and cranky, but that doesn't stop his heart from fluttering when he walks past two girls, Cara and Allison.

Allison was dating Cara's cousin, which is basically how they became best friends. She was tall and thin and was very pretty. The kind of pretty you could stare at for hours and not get tired. However, Isaac's eyes fell on the shorter of the two.

"Hey, Isaac," Her head tilted just the slightest as she spoke, her wave of curls falling onto her face before pushing them back. Isaac felt his lips curl up and his cheeks get hot, "Hi, Cara."

"See you at your lacrosse practice." It was kind of a thing for the girls to come and watch lacrosse practice. She smiled and proceeded down the hallway and around the corner. Isaac's gaze followed her, and stared off down the hallway even after she had left. And then he remembered if he didn't get his ass to that locker room, he'd be late for practice and have to run laps so he sprinted down the hall.

* * *

**Thanks for reading. Please review and let me know what you think! I'll have the next chapter in Cara's POV up in a few days. :) - T**


	2. Chapter 2

"Man, take a sip of my energy drink. You look like Shit - with a capital 'S'." Buzz looked Isaac up and down, shoving a a bright red canned beverage his way. Isaac's curly hair was slightly messier than usual, with dark bags under his eyes and his outfit looked as if a 4 year old may have picked it out.

He had been up all night studying for his chemistry class because, Lord knows, if he did poorly his father would be flat out pissed. And so, now with an alarming lack of sleep, he was trudging down the hallway side by side with Buzz, heading to hell- uh, Chemistry class.

"You'll do fine, bro." Buzz said, firmly patting Isaac on the back. Isaac sighed as they turned into the room and sat in their usual seats - third row, two down. Isaac immediately stuck his nose into his textbook, cramming as much as he could into his brain before the test while Buzz on the other hand, leaned back in his chair as he munched on a granola bar.

"Damn, she looks fine today." He heard Buzz mutter to himself.

Isaac glanced up to see Cara walk in. She had her hair in a high messy bun and a floral dress that hugged her curvy body. She looked exhausted, dark bags that matched Isaac's sat under her dark eyes. She waded past, giving a wave to Isaac (which may or may not have gave him butterflies) and Buzz as she took a seat two desks behind them, where Lydia sat.

"Dude," Buzz said, "you've been fawning over her for like two years, don't you think it's time you, I don't know, made a move?"

Isaac shrugged, blowing his comment off as he shoved his face deeper into the book. Buzz rolled his eyes, "If you don't do it soon, you know you're gonna lose your chance."

Isaac's head perked up, his eyes squinting at his friend. Cara's had two boyfriends and both times Isaac's had to deal with the heart wrenching pain of watching them be lovey-dovey. And both times he's also caught her crying in the hallway by herself because he either cheated on her, or broke up with her because she didn't put out.

He thought she deserved better. She thought she deserved best, because she wasn't just a pretty girl with a brain. Sure, she was a little selfish, Isaac knew that, but he knew she didn't do it on purpose.

She needed the best. And Isaac wasn't the best, to be brutally honest. He was just Isaac. Curly haired, shitty at chemistry Isaac.

"Why would I set myself up for failure?" Isaac asked, his eyes drifting over to the girl two desks behind them. Buzz groaned inwardly, "You're not. She's into you. At least, I think so. I mean, why else would she even bother associating with you?"

Isaac tried to scowl to cover the smile that was trying to form on his face, "Oh, I don't know. Maybe because of my dashing good looks or incredible charm." He joked before turning serious, "But do you really think so?"

"Yeah, man."

"No, no. I can't do it."

"Look, I know ladies. And I know when they're into a dude. And I'm fairly certain she may be wanting to jump on the Lahey Train of Love."

Isaac sputtered out a laugh, shaking his head to himself, half appalled and half amused by his stupid comment.

"You're such a jackass," Isaac said.

Isaac gulped, his nerves setting in. He was much too shy and much too sheepish to ask Cara out, wasn't he? And she was much too pretty and much too smart to say yes, wasn't she?

"Dude, I will not tolerate this pussy shit any longer. Ask the damn girl out."

"W-what should I say?"

Buzz stopped and rubbed his chin, like he was stroking an invisible beard (definitely invisible because that kid can't grow a beard worth shit. Unless patches count as a beard, in some twisted parallel universe).

Suddenly, his electric green eyes shot up with light, like a light switch was turned on in his brain, bringing a bright idea to him.

"Ask her to the homecoming dance."

Isaac made a distorted face, "don't you think that's a little too.. forward?"

Buzz shook his head. "You two are friends, correct?"

Isaac nodded once.

"Then what the hell is forward about that?"

His shoulders rose and fell, before slumming back in his chair. Thoughts were flying around in his head a mile a minute. He was halfway positive he'd already forgotten most of the material that was going to be on the test, and half his brain was trying to build his ego up while the other pushed it down.

Finally, five seconds before the bell rang and the test from hell would be handed out, his confidence had been built up enough for him to say, "I'll do it." And that was enough, because now that those words left his mouth, there was no way Buzz was letting him take them back.

* * *

WOWWWWW talk about a** major **chapter delay! Plus, I know this is short. I'm so sorry. I had a chapter written and planned to post it on spring break but the app it was on got deleted and then I was extremely distracted from writing the past few months, and basically I just have a ton of excuses. Anywho, I don't quite know when the next one will be posted, but it surely won't be as long of a wait as this one was. Please review and let me know what you think!


	3. Chapter 3

Isaac was sitting in his English class. The bell had just rung and the room was beginning to empty. He had an old homework sheet from chemistry out in front of him to make it look like he was working and totally not staring at the girl in front of him.

He'd calculated everything as perfect as he could. The passing period lasts 4 minutes, giving him a minute and a half or so to make his move. Then he'd have to go straight to gym, and he couldn't stop to put his textbooks in his locker.

After two deep breaths and an intense internal pep talk (which wasn't so much peppy as it was death threaty), he stood. Isaac strode past the two desks separating them. She looked up, her smile big and perfected by a few thousand dollars of dental work.

"Hey, Cara," he greeted with a sheepish smile. He could already feel the heat rising to his cheeks. He had the sudden fear that maybe the words planned in his mind wouldn't come out. What if he just stood there like an idiot with his mouth open? There was no way be could do this.

"How are you today?"

"Oh, me? I'm doing okay. How are you?"

"Tired." She confessed, shrugging as she brushed a loose piece of hair that had fallen. Isaac nodded in agreement.

A silence fell between them. It wasn't awkward, Isaac noted. Which from all the books he'd read and movies he'd watched, he knew was a good sign. He was comfortable around her. Maybe it was the fact that she always smelt tropical- like pineapple, just the same as his mother once did.

With a quick glance at the clock and a wipe of his sweaty palms to his jeans, he figured it was now or never.

"Listen, so um- I was wondering if you'd maybe like-"

He was interrupted by two heads popping in from the hallway. None other than Scott and Stiles.

"There you are!" Stiles said breathlessly, his tongue hanging out of his mouth like a dog on a hot day.

"We need to talk to you, now." Scott ordered, his eyes wide with urge. Cara's head flicked between Isaac and the two as she scoffed, "Guys, I was in the middle of a conversation."

Isaac stuck his hands into his pockets, feeling so awkward he had enough to last him and seven prepubescent girls a lifetime.

Scott made another plea and then looked at Isaac with eyes that said, 'Hey sorry man, but not really sorry because we need her more than you do.'

Cara looked up at Isaac and let out a sigh of annoyance, biting her lip. She put her hand up to his shoulder and squeezed, "I'm sorry! Finish this talk later?" Before Isaac could answer, she had grabbed her things and rushed out the door.

Isaac would've of been way more pissed off that he didn't get to ask her the question he needed to ask, but she touched his shoulder and looked him square in the eyes and smiled. It shocked him, like someone had given him a jump start and he promised himself the next time he saw her he was asking her to the dance.

"Wait, let me get this straight," Joey began as they walked out of the school that afternoon, "you didn't ask her?"

Isaac groaned, striding to the bike rack and unlocking it as Buzz and Joey conformed around him. "No. I didn't. Scott and Stiles needed to talk to her before I could ask."

"Assholes." Buzz snorted, and Isaac couldn't tell if he was joking or not. Buzz often talked about how much he didn't like how quickly Scott improved at lacrosse and Stiles was too hyperactive.

Isaac on the other hand didn't mind either of them. He liked Scott because of the sheer fact that he was Cara's cousin and Stiles gave him the answers to a chemistry worksheet so they were in the clear.

"But I'm doing it tomorrow morning. I have a plan."

"You have a plan? Oh, I'm excited to hear this." Buzz smirked.

Isaac rolled his eyes and begin. "Yes. I have a plan. So, I noticed most mornings she comes in with a coffee-"

They nodded.

"-right, well, she always gets a caramel macchiato. I was thinking I'd get her one and give it to her and then ask her." He ended with an over-exaggerated smile and wide eyes, looking back and forth between Buzz and Joey.

Joey squinted his eyes, "What if she already has a coffee?"

Isaac grimaced. "Let's just hope she doesn't."

And he prayed she wouldn't. Because what would be dumber than buying someone coffee when they already have one? And then he would really be out of luck because she would officially think he was pathetic.

"I like the enthusiasm, man. You're tryin' hard." Buzz patted him on the back. Isaac couldn't tell if it was a compliment or not. "But I've got something that'll spice it up. How about you write something like, 'Dance?' on the cup?"

Isaac smiled. He knew he was friends with Buzz for a reason.

"Think she'll like that?" He questioned, nerves now making their way to him.

Joey and Buzz nodded in unison.

"Yes," Joey said, "now go home, get your homework done, get your beauty rest, wake up bright eyed and bushy tailed, and go get your girl!"

"And text me if you feel like you might pussy out." Buzz smirked.

Isaac rolled his eyes, but knew that's exactly what he would do if that were to happen. But he had a feeling he wouldn't have to. He felt determined.

He pulled on leg over his bike and sat up on it, nodding bye and peddling out of the parking lot.

**Hey everyone! The format might be a little weird and there's no line breaks because I'm posting this on my phone. I will get on the computer as soon as possible and fix this. Next chapter is already halfway done so be ready to see it shortly. Please leave a review and let me know your thoughts. :)**


	4. Chapter 4

Isaac woke up with a jump start the next morning. He was dressed, showered, and ready to go within fifteen minutes. It was like he was super-charged. He had on his brother Camden's favorite cologne, something he only did on rare occasions which was - well, usually never. Before his brother died, he'd always told Isaac how it was his lucky cologne because he wore it the day he met the love of his life, aced his english final, and got a free sandwich from Subway.

Now, let it be said that Isaac doesn't tend to believe in superstitious things like 'lucky cologne'. However, considering the situation, he thought he could use all the luck he could get. (Plus, he was missing Camden a little today.)

His bags were packed in his backpack. His breath was minty fresh. His outfit matched. Investigating himself in the mirror for a thorough five minutes, he deemed himself worthy. He took a deep breath, in through his nose, out through his mouth.

"You can do this." He muttered, "I mean, what's the worst thing that could happen? She splashes the coffee in my face and runs away? Okay, that's not helping." He slapped his cheeks, not roughly, but enough to get his head in the game. "Be cool, Isaac. Be cool."

Swooping his backpack over his shoulders, he was out the door and on his bike. The nearest coffee shop wasn't too far. In fact, it was barely twelve minutes away by bike. Isaac made it there in a flash. He walked in and was immediately met with the smell of english majors, free wifi, and fresh coffee.

"Hi, yeah, can I get a small caramel macchiato?" Isaac said and the barista nodded. He was a tall man, which was unusual for Isaac to say because he was fairly tall. He looked to be in his late twenties, his face was a bit scruffy, and he had on square black glasses. Definitely the coffee shop type of guy.

"Comin' right up. Can I get a name?" The man asked. Isaac took a look at his name tag: Chris.

"About that, I was wondering if maybe you could write something like 'Dance question mark'? There's this girl and-"

"Say no more." He smirked, uncapping his sharpie. Isaac assumed he'd just write it down quickly, but he was taken aback when Chris furrowed his brow in concentration and began moving the sharpie in slow, graceful movements. "What's she like?" Chris asked after a few seconds, his eyes glancing across to Isaac for just a split moment.

"She's uh- she's really pretty. She has long brown hair, and brown eyes, and she smells like pineapples, which are my favorite fruit, and she's a nice person in the way that she pretends to care about people's problems when they tell them to her when really, she'd rather be off somewhere listening to music."

Chris smiled, capping the sharpie and flashing the cup in his direction. It was giant, block lettering with tribal print inside the letters. Isaac smirked and nodded up at him. Chris sent the coffee down the line, and the two began to chat while they waited. They talked about Cara and his pathetic, oh-so-sterotypical-high-school crush on her, and how Chris was an artist. He liked to sketch people. Isaac nodded, and said that was cool and he wasn't too shabby of a drawer himself but he never took it past doodles on notes.

The coffee was finished and Isaac took it into his hand, turning to say bye to Chris.

"Be sure to come in and tell me how it goes. If she says no, we can always just TP her house." He shrugged. Isaac chuckled and nodded, noting how unbelievably true that was.

Riding his bike with one hand on the handlebars was nothing too tricky for Isaac. After riding his bike to and from everywhere for as long as he could remember, he'd gotten pretty bike riding savy. It was a eight minute bike ride, and Isaac made it there with ten minutes to the bell. He parked his bike and scurried into the hall. He was on a mission.

Scouring the hallway for her face, he was walking at a brisk pace. He turned a corner and finally, he saw her - alone at her locker. Perfect. He walked towards her. Cool, calm, and collected. Well, at least that's how he tried to look on the outside. On the inside he was going fucking nuts.

"Hey there, Cara." Isaac said. He had the coffee behind his back. Her head turned to him and she grinned, "Hello." Cara replied, dragging out the 'o'.

He revealed the coffee from behind his back, "I-uh- I got this for you." He said, placing it into her hands. She looked up at him with a sly expression, her eyes bouncing from the black writing and him. He felt his cheeks burn and his hands get clammy as his fingers began to fiddle around with themselves.

"You want to go to the dance with me?" She asked.

He nodded, "Well, yeah, I mean I know you probably have way better, more popular guys that want to go with you but I mean- did they get you coffee?"

Cara chuckled, letting her obnoxious-but-in-a-good-way laugh fill the hall. "That's true. So, I guess you win this time. I'll go with you."

His insides were screaming. His head was going bonkers. He had a smile so wide he couldn't even control it and she was looking at him with a goofy expression but he didn't entirely care too much because he was still focused on the fact that she said _yes_. But now he was at the point where he didn't know what to do, and his smile was fading and he was beginning to freak out just slightly. He didn't plan past this. What does he do? Does he hug her? Does he just say bye? Now more than ever he wished there was a 'How To Ask A Girl To A Dance For Dumbies' book he could've read.

She closed her locker, "Well, thank you for the coffee. Text me later and we can plan for the dance." She spun on her heels but he called out after her, "I don't have your number."

Cara nodded, "Hand me your phone."

He fished it out of his pockets eagerly. Isaac watched as her fingers darted across the screen before handing it back to him and smiling, saying bye and walking down the hall.

He waited until she was around the corner before bolting down the hallway to find Buzz and Joey because he had some serious bragging to do- she said yes to go to the dance with him AND he got her number.

* * *

**Hi guys! So, I know we don't know much about Cara right now but eventually, I'm going to show the difference between how Isaac sees Cara and how she really is. Anyways, let me know what you think please!**


End file.
